John Cena used to train like a bodybuilder but now works out like an athlete—relying on compound exercises and strategically choosing set-and-rep schemes that ensure progression while reducing injury risk. He trains four days a week. All of Cena’s workouts are designed by his personal trainer, Rob MacIntyre.

Two days a week he focuses on Olympic lifts (snatch, clean and jerk), and two days a week he focuses on powerlifting moves. The workout presented here is from one of his powerlifting days. It’s a little bit lighter and shorter than one of his Olympic lifting days. MacIntyre notes, “He was preparing for a heavy week the next week, so weights were not the heaviest he works with. For the main lifts, all weights are chosen by me ahead of time, so he is trying to hit certain weights every workout. This helps hold him back from doing too much, which is the case for most athletes.”